Peter the Great Video Questions

PETER THE Great video questions In the years before 1682, why was Russia thought of as “a relic of the Dark Ages?” How did Sophia Romanov take control of the Russian crown in 1682? Why did Sophia eventually lose power to Peter? What influence did the so-called “German suburb” have on Peter's aspirations for Russia? What were the most important lessons Peter learned in Amsterdam? Why did Peter feel he had to challenge the authority of the Russian Orthodox Church, and how did he do it? Why did Peter melt down the bells from Russia's churches? What motivated Peter to build St. Petersburg? PETER THE Great video questions In the years before 1682, why was Russia thought of as “a relic of the Dark Ages?” How did Sophia Romanov take control of the Russian crown in 1682? Why did Sophia eventually lose power to Peter? What influence did the so-called “German suburb” have on Peter's aspirations for Russia? What were the most important lessons Peter learned in Amsterdam? Why did Peter feel he had to challenge the authority of the Russian Orthodox Church, and how did he do it? Why did Peter melt down the bells from Russia's churches? What motivated Peter to build St. Petersburg? PETER THE Great video questions In the years before 1682, why was Russia thought of as “a relic of the Dark Ages?” How did Sophia Romanov take control of the Russian crown in 1682? Why did Sophia eventually lose power to Peter? What influence did the so-called “German suburb” have on Peter's aspirations for Russia? What were the most important lessons Peter learned in Amsterdam? Why did Peter feel he had to challenge the authority of the Russian Orthodox Church, and how did he do it? Why did Peter melt down the bells from Russia's churches? What motivated Peter to build St. Petersburg? PETER THE Great video questions In the years before 1682, why was Russia thought of as “a relic of the Dark Ages?” How did Sophia Romanov take control of the Russian crown in 1682? Why did Sophia eventually lose power to Peter? What influence did the so-called “German suburb” have on Peter's aspirations for Russia? What were the most important lessons Peter learned in Amsterdam? Why did Peter feel he had to challenge the authority of the Russian Orthodox Church, and how did he do it? Why did Peter melt down the bells from Russia's churches? What motivated Peter to build St. Petersburg? Peter the Great Video Questions Answer Key In the years before 1682, why was Russia thought of as “a relic of the Dark Ages?” (Before 1682, Russia was a nation of 8 million peasants, isolated from the outside world. It had a history of resisting reform and being dominated completely by the czars.) How did Sophia Romanov take control of the Russian crown in 1682? (Weaving a web of lies and promises, Sophia induced the palace guards to storm the Kremlin and seize control, butchering whatever enemies got in the way. However, Peter and Ivan, the sons of Sophia's stepmother, were the actual heirs to the throne. In 1682, Ivan was too feeble-minded and Peter was too young to assume full power, so they shared the crown, with Sophia as regent.) Why did Sophia eventually lose power to Peter? (Suspicious that 17-year-old Peter was plotting against her, in 1689 Sophia staged another coup to get rid of him. However, because the palace guards believed that Peter had divine rights to the throne, they abandoned Sophia, and Peter became czar. Peter banished Sophia to live out her days in a distant convent.) What influence did the so-called “German suburb” have on Peter's aspirations for Russia? (An oasis of culture and technology just three miles outside of Moscow, the “German suburb” both fascinated and frustrated Peter. He enlisted Franz Timmermann to explain the workings of complex European navigation tools such as the sextant, which would make it possible for Peter to build ships and expand his horizons beyond Russia. He combed Europe to find ideas, inventions, and great minds he could bring back to Russia.) What were the most important lessons Peter learned in Amsterdam? (Peter apprenticed himself with a master shipbuilder to learn all the secrets of the shipbuilding trade, but he had to do it under an assumed identity, as apprenticing a Russian czar would have been too intimidating to a commoner. Peter also hired hundreds of Dutch shipbuilders and captains and transplanted them to Russia so he could build a fleet.) Why did Peter feel he had to challenge the authority of the Russian Orthodox Church, and how did he do it? (Peter challenged the power of the Russian Orthodox Church because he resented the Church's opposition to change and progress. He forced nobles to shave and cut their hair in the European style and enforced a European dress code, in direct opposition to long-held Orthodox practices.) Why did Peter melt down the bells from Russia's churches? (After his defeat by Charles of Sweden, Peter was left with the task of rebuilding his army. With no raw materials at hand, he used the bronze he melted from the church bells to build an array of new weapons.) What motivated Peter to build St. Petersburg? (Peter wanted to build St. Petersburg to celebrate his eventual victory over Charles XII of Sweden and to have a new capital that would be both a window on the West and a naval outlet on the Baltic Sea.)